Start your holiday celebration with the Choral Society of Pensacola, as it presents excerpts from Handel’s beloved masterpiece "Messiah."

Hosted by the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, the Society’s 100-voice chorus will perform with organ and chamber orchestra under the direction of artistic director Peter Steenblik. In addition, the concert will showcase four of Pensacola Opera’s Jan Miller Studio Artists as soloists: Hayley Abramowitz, Kayla Nanto, Randy Ho, and Scott Lee. The Choral Society will present two performances of "Christmas Messiah" in the Cathedral's beautiful sanctuary, one on Friday, December 2 at 7:30 pm and one on Saturday, December 3 at noon.

The program features part one of "Messiah," the so-called Christmas portion, which includes the story of the angels’ appearance to the shepherds. The program also features the famous “Hallelujah” chorus and the work’s concluding “Amen.”

To begin the concert, Steenblik has selected four additional works for the season: “Hark, the Herald Angels Sing,” with music by Felix Mendelssohn, arranged by Mack Wilberg; “Glory to God in the Highest” from Sergei Rachmaninoff’s "All-Night Vigil;" “Domine, Fili unigenite” (Lord, only begotten Son) from Vivaldi’s "Gloria" and “In the Bleak Midwinter,” Harold Darke’s classic setting of Christina Rossetti’s poem.